With Bill Pulte just days into his job acting director of national intelligence, senators on both sides of the aisle are already expressing concern about his performance.
Pulte began Friday, after weeks of criticism over his appointment. On Monday, he reportedly began firing intelligence officials and staff at the DNI en masse, causing issues with some lawmakers who say it’s not appropriate for an acting official, not confirmed by the Senate for that particular role, to do so.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, introduced legislation Tuesday that would lay out the hierarchy of the agency and bar presidents from installing acting directors.
The bill would require the principal deputy DNI — a Senate-confirmed position — to step in as acting head in future cases of vacancy.
“If there is an intelligence failure, a missed threat, or a national security crisis on Bill Pulte’s watch, Americans will pay the price, and President Trump will be to blame,” the Virginia Democrat said in a press release. “He made the deliberate choice to pass over qualified national security professionals and put an unqualified loyalist in charge.”
